Category: Other Religions

In a recent New York Times op-ed titled “Wanted: A Theology of Atheism,” Molly Worthen describes Sunday Gatherings, atheist get-togethers that involve singing “hymns” like “Walking on Sunshine” or “Lean on Me,” followed by a lecture on the tenets of secular humanism. Worthen goes on to defend the movement as more than a materialistic replacement for church. She also… [more]

Pew Research released a new demographic study yesterday declaring that in America’s changing religious landscape, the Christian population is declining sharply. This caught the attention of many major news outlets, including the New York Times, which reported that “71 percent of American adults were Christian in 2014, the lowest estimate from any sizable survey to date, and a decline of 5 million adults… [more]

“Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Anyone who has kept up with the news this past… [more]

Credit Imagine Dragons and front man Dan Reynolds for truth in advertising with Smoke + Mirrors. Behind its bombastic hooks and designed-for-arenas lyricism is … who knows what.
Like Oz’s great and powerful wizard, the truth behind this multi-platinum act’s vaguely spiritual angst is hard to ascertain. The smoke is cool, though. The mirrors are definitely working. This is arena rock at its bloated… [more]

Last week, President Barack Obama’s National Prayer Breakfast remarks about religious violence were not well-received. Noting the relationship between violence and religion in various times and places, he referenced Christianity’s connection with the Crusades, the Inquisition and American slavery and segregation.
It’s true that Christians and the church have been complicit in violence –… [more]

Last week, Duke University reversed its decision to allow the traditional Muslim call to prayer to be broadcast from its historic chapel tower. The permission for Muslim students to recite the prayer on Fridays for three minutes from the bell tower was rescinded following strong criticisms from Christians and a “serious and credible security threat.”
Evangelical public figure Franklin Graham, in… [more]

At the beginning of 2014, former pastor Ryan Bell decided to try out atheism for a year (and blog about it, of course). As he put it, “For the next 12 months I will live as if there is no God. I will not pray, read the Bible for inspiration, refer to God as the cause of things or hope that God might intervene and change my own or someone else’s circumstances.” At the beginning of 2015, Bell… [more]

How do you respond when a small group of zealots kills and terrorizes a country where you used to live? How can justice be satisfied without any hint of revenge? Does Christianity have anything to say to a world where a trip to the supermarket or a day at work can end in a massacre?
These were the questions that bounced around my head as I sat down to dinner with my wife and two children last week in the wake of the… [more]

What if a Western Islamic man knocking on the door of a terrorist organization is really looking for the love of God?
I don’t even want to think about the possibility. Those who join the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) are our enemies and have sworn to destroy us. Attempting to understand them feels like betrayal. Anyone who chooses ISIS is 100% evil. Period. United States President Barack Obama… [more]

As the horrifying actions of the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) reached mainstream consciousness last month, I found myself driving my car angry and unsettled. The gravity of this situation defied my capacity for understanding. Then the NPR station I had on played some modern-day Syrian men singing the Lord’s Prayer in ancient Aramaic, and I lost it.
That afternoon, the deeply spiritual power… [more]

Top Comments for this category

Doug Vande Griend: Ironically, the Islamic faith is challenging Duke to realize that all of life finds its foundation in one's religious perspective. Suggesting that Duke retreat deeper into its myth that secular is possible helps no one.

Aron Reppmann: One thing I especially appreciate about Plantinga's position is that it reflects the dynamic character of thinking and believing: rather than a once-for-all proof or disproof, faith-filled thinking is an ongoing task.